Presenting Indications of Usage of a Communication Device Using Separate Hardware Element of Communication Device

ABSTRACT

Embodiments that indicate usage information of services for wireless communication devices via ambient elements are disclosed. Some embodiments determine usage of a service for a wireless communication device and manipulate one or more ambient elements to indicate the usage to a user of the device. Various embodiments may determine usage by measuring a quantity of data transferred or measuring a number of voice minutes consumed according to a rate plan. Changing ambient elements may comprise activating vibration modules or changing colors of screen elements, or changing screen brightness of the devices, as examples. Examples of wireless communication devices are cell phones, smartphones, satellite phones, and other types of mobile communication devices that use wireless communication services.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communicationdevices and more particularly to indicating usage of the communicationdevices via ambient elements. Wireless communication devices, such ascellular telephones (cell phones) and portable computing devices thatuse wireless communication technologies, are becoming increasinglypopular in the wireless environment of today. For example, cellularservices are provided for both business use and personal use viaindividual cellular devices that connect to networks of differentcellular service providers.

Cellular services, or other types of wireless communication services,are usually provided with a monthly or annual payment agreement betweena subscriber and a service provider. Typically, each cellular subscriberselects a service usage plan or rate plan that includes a set number ofdaytime or peak minutes and another set number of night and weekend oroff-peak minutes in a set period or cycle (usually monthly) for a givenprice (e.g., 120 minutes peak, 300 off-peak for a set price per month).The subscriber may also select the rate plan based on the number of textmessages and/or data usage available, as well.

Cell phone subscribers select from among a multitude of rate plans, eachoffering differing amounts of minutes during different times of the dayor week. Typically, the subscriber selects a rate plan based on cost andassociated minutes available within the plan. If users of these rateplans use more than the available minutes in their rate plans in aparticular month, the subscribers end up paying fees for such excessusage. For example, when a subscriber uses more minutes in a given cyclethan allotted in his/her service plan, the subscriber is charged apremium for the excess calls. The premium can be expensive, such assubscribers being forced to pay double the base rate for a small numberof over-the-plan calls.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Following are detailed descriptions of embodiments depicted in theaccompanying drawings. The descriptions are in such detail as to clearlycommunicate various aspects of the embodiments. However, the amount ofdetail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations ofembodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives of the various embodimentsas defined by the appended claims. The detailed descriptions below aredesigned to make such embodiments obvious to a person of ordinary skillin the art.

Generally speaking, systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer programproducts to convey usage information of services for wirelesscommunication devices via ambient elements are contemplated. Someembodiments generally comprise obtaining a usage limit for a serviceprovided by a wireless service provider, determining an amount of usageof the service, comparing the amount of usage with one or more usagethresholds, and indicating that the amount of usage reaches or exceeds athreshold by changing an ambient of the wireless communication device.Various embodiments may determine usage by measuring a quantity of datatransferred or measuring a number of voice minutes consumed according toa rate plan. In some embodiments manipulating the ambient element maycomprise activating a vibration module, yet comprise changing colors ofa band of a display in other embodiments.

Further embodiments comprise apparatuses having an element displayer toshow an ambient element on a display of a wireless communication device,a usage determiner to determine an amount of usage of a service, athreshold comparer to compare the amount of usage with one or more usagethresholds, and an element changer to change the ambient element whenthe amount of usage at least reaches the one or more thresholds. Someembodiments may also include additional elements, such as an optionselector to enable the user select a color scheme and/or a usagedisabler to prevent or disable the element changer from changing theambient element on the screen. In some embodiments, the usage determinermay determine usage of a number of wireless communication devicessharing a usage plan.

Further embodiments comprise a computer program product comprising acomputer usable medium having a computer readable program, wherein thecomputer readable program causes the computer to receive a usage limitfor a service provided by a wireless service provider, determine anamount of usage of the service for a wireless communication device,compare the amount of usage with one or more usage thresholds, determinethat the amount of usage reaches a threshold, and indicate that theamount of usage reaches the threshold by changing an ambient element ofthe wireless communication device. Some embodiments may change theambient element by dimming a brightness of the display. In variousembodiments, the determination of the amount of usage may comprisedetermining a number of text messages transferred or calculating anumber of voice minutes that a user consumes in a billing period.

Further embodiments comprise a method of obtaining a usage limit for aservice provided by a wireless service provider, determining an amountof usage of the service, comparing the amount of usage with one or moreusage thresholds and indicating via an ambient element that the amountof usage reaches a threshold of the one or more usage thresholds. Someembodiments also include charging a periodic rate to a user of thewireless communication device for the indication via the ambientelement.

Even further embodiments comprise a system having one or more wirelesscommunication towers and one or more computers of a wireless serviceprovider coupled to the wireless communication towers. The computers maydetermine usage of a service of a wireless communication device anddetermine when the usage reaches one or more usage thresholds of a usagelimit. The embodiments may have an element changer to change an ambientelement of the wireless communication device in response to the usagereaching a threshold and an element displayer to show the ambientelement on a display of the wireless communication device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Aspects of the various embodiments will become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description and upon reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which like references may indicate similar elements:

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a system that may use ambient elementsof wireless communication devices to indicate usage, comprisingcommunication towers, a base station controller, and various wirelesscommunication devices;

FIG. 2A shows an apparatus that may manipulate numerous ambient elementsto indicate usage information;

FIG. 2B depicts one embodiment of an apparatus that may determine usageand change an ambient element of a display;

FIGS. 3A-3H illustrate how ambient elements of a smartphone may indicateusage information;

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart illustrating how a wireless communicationdevice may track usage and change colors of an ambient element toindicate usage of a service of the wireless communication device; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method for changing ambient elementsto indicate usage information for a wireless communication device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of novel embodiments depicted inthe accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as toclearly communicate the subject matter. However, the amount of detailoffered is not intended to limit anticipated variations of the describedembodiments. To the contrary, the claims and detailed description are tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the present teachings as defined by the appendedclaims. The detailed descriptions below are designed to make suchembodiments understandable to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

Many of the embodiments comprise wireless communication devices, such ascellular telephones, arranged to indicate usage of services for thedevices by manipulating one or more ambient elements of the phone.Several of the embodiments may display an ambient element on a displayof a wireless communication device. For numerous embodiments, thewireless communication device may determine an amount of usage of aservice, such as a number of voice minutes consumed for a rate plan forthe device. In the numerous embodiments, the wireless communicationdevice may manipulate or alter the ambient element to indicate theamount of usage of the service to a user.

In many of the following paragraphs, numerous embodiments are discussedusing the terms “cellular telephone” or more simply “cell phone”. Innumerous paragraphs, the terms “telecommunications” and “wirelesscommunications” may also be used. Even so, the use of these terms is forthe sake of explanation for those possessing ordinary skill in the art.

Additionally, many of the embodiments are described by referring to awireless carrier. More generally, embodiments may be interpreted asusing a service of a provider of wireless services, or wireless serviceprovider. In other words, a wireless carrier may be one specific exampleof a wireless service provider, but other providers may also bepossible.

Even further, many of the embodiments describe certain functions beingperformed by a wireless communication device. Discussion for otherembodiments illustrate how one or more of those functions mayalternatively be performed by devices coupled to or that communicatewith wireless communication devices. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, the described functions may often be performed either by thewireless communication devices, apparatuses that communicate with thewireless communication devices, or a combination of one or morefunctions being performed by the wireless communication devices with oneor more functions being performed by apparatuses that communicate withthe wireless communication devices.

Other forms of wireless devices that communicate various types ofinformation via differing types of wireless communication technologiesalso come within the scope of the present teachings. For example, manywireless communication devices may communicate other types ofinformation, in addition to or in lieu of voice information. In manyembodiments, the wireless communication devices may use other types ofcommunication services, instead of what may be referred to as cellularmobile telephone service.

Embodiments may employ differing types of systems and services, such asthe Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) or the Global System for Mobile(GSM) communication systems. Consequently, the use of such terms as“cell phone” and “telecommunication” are meant to be interpretedbroadly, covering innumerable other types of wireless communicationterms and technologies consistent with the present teachings as definedby the appended claims. Additionally, while some of the specificembodiments described below will reference the embodiments with specificconfigurations, those of skill in the art will realize that embodimentsof the present disclosure may advantageously be implemented with otherconfigurations with similar issues or problems.

Turning to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 that may employambient elements of wireless communication devices to indicateinformation of usage, comprising communication towers 130 and 140, abase station controller 160, and various wireless communication devicessuch as cell phone 115, smartphone 125, and satellite phone 110. Forexample, system 100 may enable smartphone 125 to indicate usageinformation to a person via ambient elements shown on the display ofsmartphone 125.

A wireline common carrier, an independent telephone company, or a radiocommon carrier may employ system 100 to provide services of wirelesscommunications to various types of users of communication devices. Forexample, communication towers 130 and 140 may comprise two cellulartowers in a cluster having low-power transmitters that provide cellularcommunication services to users in a geographic area via communicationdevices, sometimes referred to as mobile units, such as smartphone 125and cell phone 115.

The cellular communication services may be provided by, e.g., acommercial wireless carrier or a service provider of wirelesscommunications. Such services may be provided to smartphone 125 and cellphone 115 via radio equipment located at communication towers 130 and140, with the radio equipment working in conjunction with stationarybase station antenna sites such as base transceiver station (BTS) 145,base transceiver station 150, and base transceiver station 155.

Base transceiver station 145, base transceiver station 150, and basetransceiver station 155 may be controlled by a base station controller(BSC) 160. Base station controller 160 and the base transceiver stations145, 150, and 155 may together form a base station subsystem (BSS) 135.Depending on the embodiment, a number of base station subsystems may becontrolled and monitored by a mobile switching center (MSC). Forexample, system 100 may have two base station subsystems, 135 and 185,controlled and monitored by mobile switching center 180, with each basestation subsystem coupled to mobile switching center 180 via land linessuch as landline 175.

In an embodiment, one or more base station subsystems and mobileswitching stations may facilitate the transfer of information forwireless communication devices. For example, a wireless carrier maycharge customers for the service of transferring digital informationbetween users of the wireless communication devices via the base stationsubsystems and mobile switching stations. Usage of the service may betracked by the wireless communication devices and communicated to theusers via ambient elements of the wireless communication devices.

Mobile switching center 180 may comprise a gateway to public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) 165. Computers located within public switchedtelephone network 165 may store various databases that containinformation about the accounts of users of smartphone 125 and cell phone115. For example, a computer owned by a wireless carrier may store rateplan information for the user of cell phone 115 and contain actual usagedata as the user talks and uses data services during successive billingperiods. Mobile switching centers in a system may be coupled to thepublic switched telephone network via communication trunks. As FIG. 1illustrates, mobile switching center 180 couples to public switchedtelephone network 165 via trunk 170.

Public switched telephone network 165 may comprise innumerable publiccircuit-switched telephone networks, such as numerous publiccircuit-switched telephone networks owned and operated by commercialproviders of wireless services, or wireless carriers. For example, awireless carrier may provide wireless communications services tomillions of subscribers, or users, such as the users of smartphone 125and cell phone 115.

The wireless carrier may operate wireless communication equipment withinpublic switched telephone network 165 and allow the users of smartphone125 and cell phone 115 to communicate with other people viacommunication towers 130 and 140, base station subsystem 135, and mobileswitching center 180. In other words, the users of smartphone 125 andcell phone 115 may communicate with other people via the hardware ofpublic switched telephone network 165, mobile switching center 180, basestation subsystem 135, and communication towers 130 and 140. Suchcommunication may comprise talking, sending pictures, receiving e-mails,listening to digital audio broadcasts, and watching live television, asjust a few examples. Owners and subscribers may pay for the usage ofthese communication services.

In different embodiments, the providers of the wireless communicationsservices may have service contracts with owners of wirelesscommunication devices. For example, a wireless carrier may have aservice contract or service agreement with the owner of cell phone 115.The service contract may include 500 peak minutes and 3000 night/weekendminutes. The wireless carrier may store information of the serviceagreement for the owner of cell phone 115 in a computer database coupledwith communication equipment of public switched telephone network 165.

As the owner or a user talks on cell phone 115, such usage may consumethe peak and night/weekend minutes allotted for a particular billingperiod. As the owner continues to talk, cell phone 115 may manipulate anambient element of cell phone 115 to indicate or indicate usageinformation to the owner. For example, if the owner consumes 400 peakminutes during the first two weeks of a four week billing cycle, cellphone 115 may determine that the usage reaches a predetermined thresholdof 350 minutes, manipulate an ambient element on a display of cell phone115, and cause the ambient element to turn from green to red or from onecolor to another based on a color scheme.

In some embodiments, one or more wireless communication devices may workin tandem in some form when one of the wireless communication devicesmanipulates an ambient element to indicate the usage information. Oneexample of tandem operation may be when several users share a service ofa single rate plan. For example, the users of smartphone 125 and cellphone 115 may be mother and daughter, respectively, on a family rateplan. The mother and daughter may share a limited number of daytimeminutes during a billing cycle or billing period. The mother may monitorusage of the daytime minutes, such as how many daytime minutes remain inthe billing period, via the manipulation of an ambient element onsmartphone 125.

Alternatively, instead of indicating common or shared usage information,the mother may configure smartphone 125 to indicate usage informationallotted or specifically assigned to cell phone 115, such as a number oftext messages sent and/or received by the daughter during the billingperiod. For example, the family rate plan may allow each wirelesscommunication device to send a maximum of fifty text messages perbilling period without incurring any additional charges or usage fees.

A service contract may provide that an owner may send a limited quantityof data each billing period. For example, a service contract may providethat an owner of smartphone 125 can transfer one gigabyte (1 GB) ofinformation via smartphone 125 during a billing period. The owner mayuse smartphone 125 to surf the Internet via a browser of smartphone 125,send and receive e-mail messages, and share digital pictures with familymembers during a span of the billing period, which may be a month. Thetransfer of the information may comprise sending and/or receiving data.

As smartphone 125 transfers the information during the billing period,smartphone 125 may keep track of the quantity of information transferredduring the billing period and manipulate an ambient element to indicatehow much additional information may be transferred during the billingperiod. For example, as the owner transfers information and approachesthe 1 GB usage limit, smartphone 125 may manipulate an ambient elementon a display of smartphone 125 to indicate the data usage information tothe owner.

In some embodiments, usage information may be stored in thecommunication device. For example, cell phone 115 may tally the numberof text messages sent and received during a billing period. As thenumber of text messages approaches a limit provided in the servicecontract, cell phone 115 may manipulate an ambient element on thedisplay, communicating the text message usage to the owner.

In other embodiments, usage information may be tracked and stored in oneor more computers of the provider of the wireless communicationsservices. For example, a computer of a wireless carrier located withinpublic switched telephone network 165 may keep track of the total numberof minutes that a user talks on smartphone 125 during a billing period.In order to indicate or indicate the usage information for the number ofminutes that the user has consumed smartphone 125 may periodically senda request via communication tower 130, base station subsystem 135, andmobile switching center 180, requesting the computer of the wirelesscarrier to send the total number of minutes. The computer may respondand transmit the total number of minutes that the user has consumed, orpotentially the percentage of minutes/data used relative to a limit of arate plan during the billing period, back to smartphone 125. Smartphone125 may receive the usage information and use the information todetermine how to adjust or manipulate an ambient element on the displayof smartphone 125 in order to indicate the usage information to theowner. For example, smartphone 125 may compare the usage informationwith one or more usage limits to determine when the amount of usagereaches or exceeds thresholds relative to the usage limit.

In further embodiments, usage information may be stored by both acommunication device and a computer of the provider of the wirelesscommunication services. For example, in one embodiment smartphone 125may keep track of the total number of voice minutes used, the totalquantity of data transferred, and the total number of text messages sentand received by a user of smartphone 125.

Smartphone 125 may use the internally-tracked information to manipulateone or more ambient elements on the display of smartphone 125 tocommunicate the amount of usage to the user of smartphone 125. However,because the internally-tracked information may not match the informationcaptured and stored by a computer of the wireless carrier, which may beused for actual billing purposes, smartphone 125 may periodicallyrequest the actual or official usage information from the computer ofthe wireless carrier and use the information to manipulate ambientelements on the display and indicate the actual usage information to theuser of smartphone 125.

In even further embodiments, some usage information may be stored on thecommunication device while other usage information is stored on acomputer of the wireless carrier. For example, smartphone 125 may keeptrack of the total number of text messages and/or the amount of datatransferred to and from smartphone 125, while the computer of thewireless carrier tabulates the number of voice minutes used.

Different types of wireless communication devices may indicate usageinformation via ambient elements. For example, a user of a satellitephone 110 may communicate with other people via satellite 105. Satellitedish 120 may transmit and receive voice and data information betweensatellite 105 and public switched telephone network 165. The user ofsatellite phone 110 may have a rate plan that limits the use ofsatellite phone 110 to only 300 minutes per month, with any minutes usedin excess of the 300 minutes costing a premium. To help the user ofsatellite phone 110 avoid using too many minutes, satellite phone 110may continually alter an ambient element of satellite phone 110 toindicate usage information during the month and help the user avoidgoing beyond the rate limit of the rate plan.

In different embodiments of system 100, the types and numbers of systemcomponents may vary. For example, while system 100 of FIG. 1 only showstwo communication towers, many systems may have tens or hundreds ofcommunication towers. Other systems may have tens or hundreds of basestation controllers coupled with varying numbers of base transceiverstations and varying numbers of mobile switching centers.

The methods and technologies to transfer information between thewireless communication devices and other components of a system may varyfrom embodiment to embodiment, and even from component to component in asingle embodiment. For example, in one embodiment cell phone 115 mayhave a power transmission rating of three watts and transmit voicesignals using an analog methodology via radio frequencies. In anotherembodiment cell phone 115 may have a power transmission rating of 0.5watts and transmit voice and data signals using a digital methodologyvia microwave frequencies.

In various embodiments of system 100 the wireless communication devicesmay use varying technologies to transfer voice and data information. Forexample, one or more wireless communication devices may employ advancedmobile phone service (AMPS) technology, global system for mobile (GSM)communication technology, and/or personal communication service (PCS).One or more wireless communication devices may operate on frequencybands around 800 and 900 megahertz (MHz) while other wirelesscommunication devices operate at frequencies near 1,900 MHz. Alternativeembodiment wireless communication devices may operate at frequenciesother than the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, and 1,900 MHz bands. Various wirelesscommunication devices may also employ time-division multiple access(TDMA), code-division multiple access (CDMA), or a combination of bothTDMA and CDMA. Some wireless communication devices may employ adifferent multiple access technology, other than TDMA and CDMA, whileother wireless communication devices employ no multiple accesstechnology.

In many of the embodiments, one or more of the wireless communicationdevices may support various types of service technologies. For example,a wireless communication device may use a short message service (SMS)communication protocol for text messaging. The wireless communicationdevice may also use employ another service, such as a multimediamessaging service (MMS), to transfer other types of data for images,audio, video, and rich text, such as e-mail, packet switching data forthe Internet, and gaming data as examples. As a specific example, awireless communication device may have a camera with video recorder andemploy MMS for sending and receiving photos and multimedia clips. Inalternative embodiments, the wireless communication devices may supportother types of services, such as mobile instant messaging and mobilee-mail. In further embodiments, the wireless communication devices mayalso support services such as simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) overtransmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP). Usage ofservices that employ one or more of these technologies may be conveyedvia ambient elements.

Various wireless communication devices may support one or more of themany communication standards. For example, one wireless communicationdevice may support general packet radio service (GPRS) and universalmobile telecommunications system (UMTS) communication standards. Anotherwireless communication device may support evolution-data optimized(EV-DO), while yet another wireless communication device may supportenhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) and Super 3G. As oneskilled in the art will readily appreciate, there are numerouscommunication technologies and standards which various wirelesscommunication devices may employ alone or in combination in variousembodiments. Usage of services that employ one or more of thesestandards may also be conveyed via ambient elements.

To enable one to understand how an apparatus may communicate usageinformation to a user via ambient elements, we can first examine some ofthe aspects and properties attributed to ambient elements. Ambientelements may present information to a person through subtle changes inlight, sound, form, color, smell, temperature, or movement, which may beprocessed by the person in the background of his or her awareness. Inother words, an ambient element may communicate information to theperson in a subconscious manner, while the person may be focusing his orher attention on a different subject. For example, a user may only have100 minutes remaining out of 500 minutes for a rate plan in a billingperiod. Instead of displaying the number of remaining minutes on ascreen of a cell phone, which requires the user to focus his or herattention to comprehend that the number of minutes are starting to runlow, the cell phone may instead decrease the call volume in proportionto the number of minutes remaining. While the user is talking on thephone, she may subconsciously perceive that her minutes are starting torun low as the volume of the voice of the other person decreases duringthe conversation. She may perceive that she has few minutes remainingwithout having to navigate through a series of menu items and read anumber on the screen of her cell phone.

To provide a more detailed illustration of how an apparatus maymanipulate numerous ambient elements to indicate usage information, weturn now to FIG. 2A. FIG. 2A depicts an apparatus 200 that maymanipulate or alter one or more ambient elements in order to indicateusage information to a user of a wireless communication device, such ascell phone 115, smartphone 125, or satellite phone 110 described in thediscussion for FIG. 1. In one or more embodiments, apparatus 200 may bepart of a cell phone, a smartphone, or other portable wirelesscommunication device. A wireless communication device may have modulesthat enable communication of both analog information and digitalinformation. For example, apparatus 200 comprises two different modules,digital baseband 212 and analog baseband 222.

In one or more embodiments digital baseband 212 may be an integratedcircuit chipset comprising a processor, cache memory, a shared memorycontroller, timers, and interrupt controller, static random accessmemory (SRAM), and secure read-only memory (ROM). For example, digitalbaseband 212 may execute instructions of an operating system andprograms stored in memory 204. Analog baseband 222 may comprise anintegrated circuit chipset for transferring information betweenapparatus 200 and a communication tower, via radio frequency transceiver226 and radio frequency switch 228. An antenna may send and receivecommunication signals to and from the communication tower, whereuponradio frequency switch 228 switches between the appropriate sending andreceiving frequencies as radio frequency transceiver 226 generates andreceives the modulated signals. For example, analog baseband 222 mayreceive packets of a digitally encoded live video broadcast via radiofrequency transceiver 226 and radio frequency switch 228. Upon receivingthe digitally encoded signals of the packets from radio frequencytransceiver 226, analog baseband 222 may transfer the packets to digitalbaseband 212 for decoding and further processing to display thebroadcast on display 218. Receiving and viewing the video broadcast maybe a service provided by a wireless carrier. Information related tousage of the service may be conveyed via ambient elements apparatus 200.

Apparatus 200 may have one or more subscriber identity key module (SIM)cards, such as SIM card 202. SIM card 202 may comprise a removable smartcard integrated circuit and be used to identify the subscriber or ownerof apparatus 200 when interacting with the various wirelesscommunication services. In some embodiments, SIM card 202 may storeinformation used by apparatus 200 when determining how to manipulate oralter an ambient element to indicate usage information. For example, SIMcard 202 may store rate plan information, such as how manynight-and-weekend minutes the subscriber is entitled to for each billingperiod and how many minutes have actually been consumed during aspecific billing period.

Usage information may also be stored in memory 204. The types of memorydevices comprising memory 204 may vary in different embodiments. Innumerous embodiments, memory 204 may comprise volatile memory elements,such as a 512 megabyte (Mb) dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip inone embodiment. In alternative embodiments, memory 204 may comprisenonvolatile memory. For example in an alternative embodiment memory 204may comprise a flash memory module, such as a 1 GB flash memory device.Digital baseband 212 may work in conjunction with memory 204 whencalculating or determining usage information, such as by tracking atotal number of bytes transferred during a billing cycle. That is tosay, digital baseband 212 may monitor the amount of data sent andreceived by apparatus 200. As the total amount of data sent and receivedincreases during a billing period, digital baseband 212 may store thetotal in memory 204.

Apparatus 200 may have a connector for a universal serial bus (USB) 210.For example, apparatus 200 may comprise a smart phone with an integratedpersonal digital assistant (PDA), such as a Palm® Treo™. USB 210 mayallow a user to transfer information between apparatus 200 and otherelectronic devices, such as synchronizing data files between apparatus200 and a desktop computer. A user may send one or more such files,which may be, e.g. a picture of a family member, from apparatus 200 viaa wireless communication service provided by a wireless carrier. Sendingand/or receiving such files may be a type of usage tracked by apparatus200 and conveyed to a user of apparatus 200 via one or more ambientelements.

As FIG. 1 illustrates, apparatus 200 has numerous modules which controlthe display of information to a user of apparatus 200. Liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) controller 216 may receive display information fromdigital baseband 212 and present the information on display 218. Forexample, LCD controller 216 may receive alphanumeric characters or videopicture information from digital baseband 212 and control display 218 sothat a user may observe the characters or video. Touch screen controller214 may sense user selection and operation via touch screen 208. Forexample, a user of apparatus 200 may select how many services aremonitored and which ambient elements are altered to indicate usageinformation for those services. For instance, the user may have a rateplan which includes both voice and data services from a wirelesscarrier. However, the user may desire to have apparatus 200 onlyindicate usage information pertaining to daytime or peak minutes. Tohave apparatus 200 only indicate usage of daytime minutes, the user mayuse touch screen 208 to navigate through a series of drop-down menus andmake appropriate menu selections, configuring apparatus 200 to onlymanipulate a single ambient element corresponding to usage of daytimeminutes.

In numerous embodiments, digital baseband 212 and LCD controller 216 maymanipulate or alter one or more ambient elements displayed on display218. For example, display 218 may comprise a 320×320 pixel resolutioncolor LCD screen. Based on calculated usage of a service by digitalbaseband 212, LCD controller 216 may gradually decrease the displayresolution of screen items presented via display 218, such that theeffective resolution presented on display 218 when a user approaches arate plan service limit is 100×100 pixels.

Resolution as an alterable ambient element is just one example. Otherexamples of altering ambient elements include gradually changingdisplayed characters from green to red, altering luminance, hue,saturation, or color value, and changing brightness of display 218. Forexample, when the user approaches a rate plan service limit digitalbaseband 212 may manipulate or control white light emitting diode (LED)backlight 226, causing display 218 to dim more and more as usage of theservice increases.

Apparatus 200 may have a charge-coupled device/complementary metal oxidesemiconductor (CCD/CMOS) camera 224 for taking pictures or capturinglive video. For example, a user of apparatus 200 may capture a videoclip of his son scoring a touchdown, wherein digital baseband 212captures the video clip via CCD/CMOS camera 224 and stores the videoclip in memory 204 for later playback via video encoder 206. Apparatus200 may also have a frequency modulated (FM) tuner 220 coupled with astereo audio coder/decoder (CODEC) 230, enabling a user of apparatus 200to listen to and potentially record an FM broadcast. For example,apparatus 200 may comprise part of a smartphone with built in FM tuner220. The user may record a series of songs as one or more digitallyencoded files, such as a series of MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3) files, andstores the files in memory 204.

A user may choose to send the MP3 files, and the previously mentionedvideo file, to her friend by transmitting the files via radio frequencytransceiver 226 and radio frequency switch 228. However, sending the MP3and video files to her friend may consume a portion of her monthlyallotted data transfer limit. For example, her rate plan may providethat she may send up to 200 MB of data during a single billing periodwithout incurring any usage penalty fees.

Digital baseband 212 may track the total quantity of data transferredvia apparatus 200 during the billing period and manipulate an ambientelement to indicate data transfer usage information to the user. Forexample, digital baseband 212 may cause analog baseband 222 toperiodically activate vibration module 232 whenever apparatus 200 is inthe process of transferring data. As the quantity of transferredinformation increases, such as by approaching the 200 Mb rate planlimit, digital baseband 212 may cause analog baseband 222 to activatevibration module 232 with increasing amounts of vibration, or to vibratemore frequently, as the total quantity of data transferred increases.

In many embodiments, apparatus 200 may also have a keypad such as keypad234. Apparatus 200 may indicate usage information via keypad 234. Forexample, at the beginning of a billing period apparatus 200 maybacklight the keys of keypad 234 with a dark green color. As the userconsumes night-and-weekend minutes, apparatus 200 may gradually changethe backlight of the keys from dark green to light green, from lightgreen to yellow, from yellow to orange, and from orange to red.

Alternatively, apparatus 200 may manipulate another ambient element toindicate usage of the night-and-weekend minutes. For example, apparatus200 may comprise a cell phone having a clear or translucent plasticcase. As the user consumes night-and-weekend minutes, apparatus 200 maygradually change the color of light emitted from case light emittingdiodes (LED) 236, such as by changing the color from green to blue, blueto yellow, and from yellow to red. Alternatively, apparatus 200 maygradually change the intensity of the light emitted from case LED 236.

FIG. 2B shows an apparatus 240 that may manipulate numerous ambientelements to indicate usage information. The embodiment of apparatus 240shown in FIG. 2B has a usage determiner 250, a threshold comparer 255,an element changer 260, and an element displayer 265.

One or more elements of apparatus 240 may be in the form of hardware,software, or a combination of both hardware and software. For example,in one embodiment, one or more of the modules of apparatus 240 maycomprise software instructions of an application stored in a tangiblemedium, executed in memory by a processor. In other words, oneembodiment of apparatus 240 may comprise portions of stored code for anapplication, which may monitor usage of a service for a wirelesscommunication device, such as satellite phone 110 shown in FIG. 1.

In alternative embodiments, one or more of the modules of apparatus 240may comprise hardware-only modules. For example, in one embodimentelement displayer 265 and element changer 260 may comprise a colordisplay screen and a display controller integrated circuit that showimages on the display screen, respectively. In such an embodiment,element displayer 265 and element changer 260 may not execute anysoftware instructions, but instead respond to various input signals toproduce and manipulate images.

In some embodiments, usage determiner 250, threshold comparer 255,element changer 260, and element displayer 265 may all reside in asingle device, such as smartphone 125. For example, usage determiner 250and threshold comparer 255 may comprise a processor that executesinstructions to track the number of days that have elapsed in a billingcycle, tracks the number and type of minutes that a user talks onsmartphone 125, determines the number of minutes remaining in thebilling period, based on the number of days elapsed and the number ofminutes consumed, and determines whether the number of minutes or otheramounts of usage reach or go beyond one or more thresholds. For example,the processor executing the instructions may determine when the amountsof usage thresholds of 10%, 20%, 50%, 90%, 98%, and 105% of a usagelimit of a rate plan are reached or exceeded.

Element changer 260 may comprise an LCD controller, such as LCDcontroller 216 shown in FIG. 2A. Even further, element displayer 265 maycomprise an LCD display screen, such as display 218 shown in FIG. 2A,which may also be located in smartphone 125. Based on the number ofminutes remaining in a billing period calculated by usage determiner250, the LCD controller may subtly alter the background color of animage displayed on the LCD display screen to indicate the usageinformation.

Alternatively, depending on the embodiment, the elements of apparatus240 may reside in two or more devices. For example, in one alternativeembodiment, one or two of the elements of apparatus 240 may reside in awireless communication device, such as cell phone 115, while theremaining elements reside in other devices, such as in computers of awireless carrier. For example, element changer 260 and element displayer265 may comprise hardware elements in cell phone 115, while usagedeterminer 250 comprises a separate device coupled to cell phone 115. Insuch an embodiment, usage determiner 250 may track usage of one or moreservices provided by the wireless carrier, such as how much data a userhas transferred during a billing period, and transmit the usageinformation to cell phone 115 whenever cell phone 115 requests the usageinformation. Upon receiving the usage information, element changer 260and element displayer 265 may manipulate or alter an ambient element,shown via element displayer 265, corresponding to the magnitude of theusage.

In another alternative embodiment, only one element, such as elementdisplayer 265, may comprise part of a wireless communication device. Theremaining elements may reside as hardware and/or software modules of anapparatus or system operated by a wireless service provider. Forexample, usage determiner 250, threshold comparer 255, and elementchanger 260 may comprise software modules executed by one or morecomputers of the wireless service provider that monitor or track usageof one or more services, determine when such usage at least reachescertain thresholds like 10% thresholds of a usage limit defined by ausage plan or rate plan, and determine when to change one or moreelements of the wireless communication device. To change the device, onecomputer of the wireless service provider may generate and transmit aspecific usage number to the wireless communication device. Differentusage numbers may correspond to different colors to be displayed on awireless communication device; e.g., a color number of 0 for black, acolor number of 1000 for white, 900 for one yellow color, 300 for onered color, and 600 for a green color, with other color numberscorresponding to other colors being possible. Alternatively, in otherembodiments, the usage number may be used by the wireless communicationdevices to change the ambient elements in different ways, such as bychanging the illumination, L.E.D. brightness, and vibration.

Apparatus 240 may vary in different embodiments. Some embodiments mayhave fewer modules than those module depicted in FIG. 2B. For example,one embodiment may not have separate modules for element changer 260 andelement displayer 265. That is to say, element changer 260 and elementdisplayer 265 may be combined in a single module.

In other embodiments, apparatus 240 may include one or more additionalmodules. One embodiment may have a usage reception module to receiveusage information from another device, such as a number for a percentageused or a percentage remaining of a service. Other embodiments may havea usage disabler 275 to give the user the option of preventing theelement changer from changing an ambient element on the screen. Someembodiments may also include additional elements, such as an optionselector 270 to enable the user select a color scheme and/or a usagedisabler to prevent or disable the element changer from changing theambient element on the screen.

Additionally, some embodiments may have different elements performdifferent functions. For example, some embodiments may not have anelement displayer 265 but instead have an element producer. For example,in at least one embodiment the element producer of may comprise aspeaker or buzzer that the embodiment causes to emit a periodic sound.If the usage is very low the embodiment may cause the speaker toperiodically emit a relatively low frequency sound, such as a 40 to 50hertz (Hz) buzzing sound. As the usage increases the embodiment maycause the speaker to periodically emit increasingly higher frequencybuzzing sounds, such as by increasing the frequency of the buzzing soundby 100 Hz for each percentage of the usage range defined by a rate plan.Alternatively, an embodiment may produce a barely perceptible hum on thespeaker as a person talks, either periodically or continuously.

To provide some illustrative examples of how an apparatus or a wirelesscommunication device may indicate usage information via ambient elementswe turn now to FIGS. 3A through 3H. FIGS. 3A-3H illustrate how ambientelements of a smartphone 300 may indicate usage information. In one ormore embodiments, smartphone 300 may comprise a wireless communicationdevice in a system like system 100.

Usage information may relate to a service provided by a provider ofservices for wireless communications, such as a wireless carrier. Someexamples of the types of services that the provider may offer aresending and receiving e-mail; retrieving information related to news,entertainment, or stock quotes from the Internet or other network via abrowser; playing games; watching television or Internet broadcasts;sending text messages; communicating or interacting with other devicessuch as PDAs and MP3 players; and providing navigation information via aglobal positioning satellite (GPS) module.

The provider of these wireless services may offer each service tosubscribers via one or more rate plans. For example, a subscriber oruser may select a rate plan that offers 1000 minutes of voicecommunication that may be used at any time, a maximum of 500 textmessages that may be sent or received, and a maximum allowable datatransfer limit of 2 GB. Embodiments may track and indicate usageinformation via ambient elements for one or more of the services of therate plan, such as by altering an element or indicator on a display asthe usage approaches the limit defined by the rate plan.

As shown in FIG. 3A, smartphone 300 may have a display 310. Display 310may comprise, e.g., a color LCD screen. To indicate usage information ofa service, smartphone 300 may manipulate an element such as ambientelement 320 depicted in FIG. 3B. For example, during the month ambientelement 320 may alert the user of smartphone 300 that he is approachinghis rate plan limit for one of the services of the rate plan, such asthe number of text messages. At the beginning of a billing period, when100% of the messages are available, ambient element 330 of display 310may glow green, as illustrated in FIG. 3C.

As the user sends and/or receives text messages during the month, theaccumulated number of text messages may approach the limit of the rateplan. For example, if the usage approaches 60% of the limit, ambientelement 340 of display 310 may fade to yellow, as illustrated in FIG.3D. As the user continues to send and/or receive text messages andapproaches the limit of the rate plan, such as within 20% of the limit,the color of ambient element 350 may fade to red as illustrated by FIG.3E.

These thresholds of 100%, 60%, and 20% are illustrative of only oneembodiment. The values for the thresholds may vary in differentembodiments and may be configurable at the time the phone is purchased.Alternatively, in another embodiment, the user may select the thresholdamounts and/or the colors by choosing a color scheme or setting apreference of smartphone 300.

Additionally, the change or manipulation of the ambient element mayoccur gradually, such as by slightly changing color for each percentageof the limit consumed, or the change may occur instantaneously, such asby swapping from green to yellow. An example of an instantaneous changeof an ambient element may be that ambient element 320 is one shade ofgreen while the usage varies from 100% to 61%. However, as soon as thepercentage exceeds a threshold of 60.999%, smartphone 300 may change thedisplayed color from green to yellow. In a like fashion, smartphone 300may change the displayed color from yellow to red at a threshold of20.999%.

Changing ambient elements of wireless communication devices to indicateusage information may be provide users with clear indicators that theyare consuming their minutes in a rapid fashion and are approaching asituation where they may face paying overage charges. For example, theusers may not have to navigate a complicated series of menus to find theinformation. Plus, the use of ambient elements to indicate usageinformation may help train the users to be more careful in their use ofthe wireless communication devices. For example, the users may shortentheir calls or turn off their phones at night in order to preventreceiving text messages.

Additionally, in the scenarios where service agreements involvediscontinuing services for users that have reached their limits forbilling periods, the use of ambient elements may also help the usersavoid having the services discontinued. For example, by having theambient elements indicate usage information, a teenager may avoid thesituation where the cell service is shut off just when a parent needs toreach him or her, such as when he or she is in trouble and needs help.

While various embodiments may compare amounts of usage with one or moreusage thresholds in an increasing manner, other embodiments may comparethe amounts of usage with one or more usage thresholds in a decreasingmanner. For example, in one embodiment the amount of usage may be anumber that increases as a person uses a service, such as the number ofminutes consumed. In such an embodiment, the ambient element may changecolors as the consumed number of minutes increases. Alternatively, inanother embodiment, the amount of usage may be a number that decreasesas the person uses the service. An example may be when the numberrepresents the number of minutes remaining in a billing period. At thebeginning of the billing period, the amount of minutes remaining may berelatively large but decrease as the user talks on the communcationdevice. In such an alternative embodiment, the ambient element maychange colors as the remaining amount of minutes decreases.

While the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3C through 3E may change anambient element comprising a band encircling the perimeter of display310, other embodiments may change different elements, such as an ambientelement that spans one of the four sides of display 310. Alternatively,a wireless communication device may indicate usage information bychanging other types of ambient elements. An example of changing anothertype of ambient element is illustrated in FIGS. 3F through 3H.

FIG. 3F shows how smartphone 360 may show or display an ambient elementcomprising an ambient picture. At the beginning of a billing period,smartphone 360 may obtain the remaining percentage amount of a service,which may be 100%, wherein smartphone 360 may display the ambientpicture with full intensity (element 370) as shown in FIG. 3F. As theuser of smartphone 360 uses the service tracked via the ambient picture,smartphone 360 may periodically obtain the remaining percentage amountand decrease the intensity of the ambient picture, such that smartphone360 displays the ambient picture at half-intensity (element 380) whenthe user consumes approximately 50% of the billing period serviceamount. For example, the user may have transferred one hundred textmessages out of a rate plan limit of two hundred text messages permonth. Once the user has sent and/or received one hundred and ninetytext messages, out of the rate plan limit of two hundred, smartphone 360may display the ambient picture with a relatively low intensity (element390), as depicted in FIG. 3H.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart 400 of a process illustrating how a wirelesscommunication device may track usage and change colors of an ambientelement to indicate or indicate the usage. For example, one or moreembodiments may be implemented as a computer program product comprisinga computer readable storage medium including instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor track usage and change colors of an ambientelement to communicate usage information of the wireless communicationdevice. Alternatively, the process of flowchart 400 may be implementedin hardware, such as in a state machine of a wireless communicationdevice, such that the state machine causes the device to carry out theprocess illustrated by flowchart 400.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the process may involve obtaining orretrieving the minutes used and calculating the number of minutesremaining (element 405). For example, a smartphone may send a request toa wireless carrier asking the carrier to send the actual number ofminutes that may have been used or consumed during a billing period andthe number of minutes that are included in the rate plan of the user.Based on information received, the smartphone may subtract the actualnumber of minutes used from the number of minutes of the rate plan todetermine the number of minutes remaining in the billing period. Theprocess may further involve retrieving the first day of the billingperiod, calculating the number of days that have elapsed, andcalculating the number of days remaining in the billing period (element410).

Continuing with our example, the smartphone may send a request to thewireless carrier asking the wireless carrier to send the starting dateof the billing period, and the number of days in the billing period ifthe number of days differs from thirty. Using the information receivedfrom the wireless carrier, the smartphone may calculate or determine thenumber of days that have elapsed by comparing the starting date with thepresent date. The smartphone may compare the number of days that haveelapsed with the number of days in the billing period to calculate thenumber of days remaining in the billing period.

The smartphone may divide the number of minutes used by the number ofdays that have elapsed to calculate an average usage rate (element 415).For example, the rate plan may provide 300 minutes per each billingperiod of 30 days. On the 10th day of the billing period, the user mayhave consumed 100 of the minutes. Consequently, the smartphone maydivide 100 minutes by 10 days to calculate the average usage rate of 10minutes per day. The smartphone may also divide the number of minutesremaining by the number of days remaining in order to calculate anaverage remaining usage rate (element 420). Continuing with our example,the smartphone may divide 200 minutes by 20 days and determine that theuser may continue using an average of 10 minutes per day and stay withinthe limits of the rate plan. In other words, the user may consume 300minutes by the end of the billing period, which will be within themaximum number of minutes provided by the rate plan, provided the usercontinues talking an average of 10 minutes or less per day for the restof the billing period.

The smartphone may use the calculated results in determining how toindicate usage information to the user via one or more ambient elements.If the calculated average usage rate is greater than the calculatedaverage remaining usage rate (element 430), the smartphone may displayan ambient element with a red color (element 435). For example, if theuser consumes 200 minutes out of a 300 minute rate plan in the first 10days of the 30 day billing period, the average usage would be 20 minutesper day which would be greater than the average remaining usage rate of5 minutes per day.

If the calculated average usage rate is equal or approximately equal tothe calculated average remaining rate (element 440), the smartphone maydisplay the ambient element with a yellow color (445). For example, withour initial example the average usage rate of 10 minutes per day wouldequal the average remaining usage rate of 10 minutes per day. However,if the calculated average usage rate is less than the calculated averageremaining usage rate (element 440), the smartphone may display theambient element with a green color (element 450).

If the user consumes 50 minutes out of a 300 minute rate plan in thefirst 10 days of a 30 day billing period, the average usage would be 5minutes per day which would be less than the average remaining usagerate of 12.5 minutes per day. The smartphone may then wait for a periodof time (element 425) before calculating the average usage rate and theaverage remaining usage rate and altering the display of the ambientelement. For example, the smartphone may only retrieve the data from thewireless carrier every 10 minutes when the user is talking on the phone.

Flowchart 400 of FIG. 4 illustrates only one process. Alternativeembodiments may implement innumerable variations of flowchart 400. Forexample, instead of calculating the number of minutes remaining (element405) and/or calculating the number of days that have elapsed and thenumber of days that are remaining (element 410), an alternativeembodiment may simply request the number of minutes remaining, thenumber of days that have elapsed, and the number of days remaining fromthe wireless carrier. In other alternative embodiments the wirelesscommunication device may display the ambient element or elements indiffering numbers of colors with differing numbers of thresholdsaccording to a color scheme which may, depending on the embodiment, beselected by the user. For example, a cell phone may cause an ambientelement to transition from green to blue, blue to yellow, yellow toorange, and from orange to red at different percentage values of usage.Even further embodiments may display the ambient element in a continuousspectrum of colors, e.g., from white to black, as the usage changes.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart 500 of a method for manipulating ambientelements to indicate usage information for a wireless communicationdevice. For example, smartphone 125 depicted in FIG. 1 may employ themethod of flowchart 500 to indicate usage information to a user ofsmartphone 125. A method according to flowchart 500 may begin withobtaining information of a billing period (element 510). For example,the user of smartphone 125 may have rate plan described in a serviceagreement with a wireless carrier. The rate plan may have numerous usagelimits that the user may want to not exceed. The rate plan may providethat the user may talk a total of 1000 minutes and transfer up to 2 GBof data during each billing period. For a billing period, smartphone 125may also obtain information of the billing period, such as the startingand ending dates of a period spanning from October 6 to November 6, aswell as the limits for voice minutes and data transfer. Smartphone 125may obtain the billing information from the wireless carrier, such as bysending an automated request. Alternatively, in some embodiments,smartphone 125 may obtain the billing information from the user, such asby the user entering the information into smartphone 125 using a keypad.

During the billing period, smartphone 125 may determine when the billingperiod starts, such as via an internal calendar program, and measure orotherwise determine the amount of time that anyone talks otherwise usessmartphone 125 to send/receive voice information during the billingperiod (element 520). Smartphone 125 may also measure or determine howmuch data anyone transfers via smartphone 125 during the billing period(element 530). For example, within a couple of seconds after midnight onOctober 6 smartphone 125 may reset a voice minute counter and a datatransfer accumulator in nonvolatile memory of smartphone 125. Whenanyone uses smartphone 125 to transfer voice and data informationbetween the dates of October 6 and November 6, smartphone 125 may trackor measure such usage via the voice minute counter and the data transferaccumulator.

An embodiment of flowchart 500 continues by determining a first amountof usage of the voice minutes (element 540) and determining a secondamount of usage of the data transferred during the billing period(element 550). For example, every ten minutes smartphone 125 may comparethe totals of the voice minute counter and data accumulator to the usagelimits provided by the rate plan and calculate respective percentageamounts for the voice and data usage. For the sake of a more detailedillustration, smartphone 125 may measure or otherwise determine from thewireless carrier that the owner consumes a total of 600 voice minutesand transfers a total of 1.5 GB of data at some point in the billingperiod. Smartphone 125 may compare the 600 voice minutes and 1.5 GBtotals to the usage limits of 1000 minutes and 2 GB and calculatepercentage amounts of 60% and 75% for usage of the voice and dataservices, respectively.

An embodiment of flowchart 500 continues by changing a first ambientelement based on the first amount of usage (element 560) and a secondambient element based on the second amount of usage (element 570) toindicate the usage to the owner. For example, smartphone 125 mayindicate usage by changing a first bar on the leftmost side of a displayof smartphone 125 corresponding to usage of the voice minutes. As theowner talked on the phone and increased the total number of voiceminutes used from 0% to 60%, smartphone 125 may have changed the displayproperties of the first bar, causing the first bar to change from abright green color to yellow and then to orange. Similarly, as the ownertransfers the 1.5 GB data, such as by watching video broadcasts andusing a GPS service offered by the wireless carrier, smartphone 125 maychange a second bar on the rightmost side of the display. Smartphone 125may have manipulate the display properties of the second bar, causingthe second bar to change from a bright green color to yellow to orangeand then to a light shade of red.

An embodiment of flowchart 500 continues by determining the end of thebilling period and resetting the ambient elements (element 580). Forexample, smartphone 125 may determine that the end of November 6 haspassed, by using the internal calendar program, and reset the totals forthe voice minute counter and the data transfer accumulator.Consequently, smartphone 125 may also manipulate the display propertiesof the first and second bars, causing the bars to change from theircurrent colors to a bright green.

Flowchart 500 of FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of one method. FIG. 6depicts a flowchart 600 of one alternative method for manipulatingambient elements to indicate usage information for a wirelesscommunication device. Flowchart 600 illustrates a business method that awireless service provider may use when providing a service to one ormore subscribers.

The wireless service provider may operate a networked system ofcommunication devices in FIG. 1, employ the method of flowchart 600 toindicate usage information to a subscriber of cell phone 115, and chargethe subscriber a periodic rate for providing the indication. Forexample, indicating usage information via one or more ambient elementsof cell phone 115 may be, e.g., a $1.75/mo plan option that thesubscriber adds to the plan to help avoid excessive usage fees.

A method according to flowchart 600 may begin with obtaining a usagelimit for a service of the wireless service provider (element 610). Forexample, the subscriber or user of cell phone 115 may have rate planthat provides the subscriber a total of 12 hours of usage of a GPSservice of cell phone 115 during each billing period. Obtaining theusage may comprise retrieving the usage limit of 12 hours from thewireless service provider, such as requesting the usage limitelectronically via cell phone 115 or by storing the usage limit intocell phone 115 via a keypad. Alternatively, in another embodiment,obtaining the usage limit may comprise storing the usage limit into acomputer database of the wireless service provider.

During a billing period, cell phone 115 may determine an amount of usageof the GPS service (element 620). For example cell phone 115 may have aninternal timer or accumulator that measures and tracks the amount oftime that cell phone 115 enables the GPS service during the billingperiod. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the GPS information may besent from a communication network to cell phone 115, whereupon one ormore computers of the wireless service provider may monitor the totalamount of usage during the billing period.

As the subscriber uses the GPS service during the billing period, cellphone 115 or a computer of the wireless service provider may compare theamount of usage with one or more usage thresholds (element 630). Forexample, the subscriber may select an indication scheme which graduallychanges a color of an ambient element from green to red in 5% thresholdsof the usage limit of 12 hours. Cell phone 115 may compare the amount ofusage with the 5% thresholds (element 630) and change the color of theambient element as the amount of usage increases (element 640). In otherwords, the scheme may cause the color of the ambient element to changecolors at each time the amount of usage increases by 5% of the usagelimit (element 640).

Using one or more ambient elements of a wireless communication device toindicate the amount of usage may comprise an optional service for a rateplan offered by the wireless service provider. For example, to helpavoid using the GPS service for more than 12 hours in a billing period,the subscriber may choose to pay an additional small fee each billingperiod, which enables the ambient indication feature (element 650).

Another embodiment is implemented as a program product for implementingsystems and methods described with reference to FIGS. 1-5. Embodimentsmay take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirelysoftware embodiment, or an embodiment containing both hardware andsoftware elements. One embodiment is implemented in software, whichincludes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode,etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a computer program productaccessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providingprogram code for use by or in connection with a computer or anyinstruction execution system. For the purpose of describing the variousembodiments, a computer-usable or computer readable medium may be anyapparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transportthe program for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) medium.Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solidstate memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk,and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compactdisk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W), andDVD.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode may include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code isretrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/Odevices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointingdevices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or throughintervening I/O controllers.

Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, willrealize that the present disclosure contemplates indicating usageinformation of wireless communication devices via ambient elements. Theform of the embodiments shown and described in the detailed descriptionand the drawings should be taken merely as examples. The followingclaims are intended to be interpreted broadly to embrace all variationsof the example embodiments disclosed.

Although the present disclosure and some of its advantages have beendescribed in detail for some embodiments, one skilled in the art shouldunderstand that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can bemade herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the appended claims. Although specificembodiments may achieve multiple objectives, not every embodimentfalling within the scope of the attached claims will achieve everyobjective. Moreover, the scope of the present application is notintended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process,machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods, and stepsdescribed in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate from this disclosure, processes, machines,manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps presentlyexisting or later to be developed that perform substantially the samefunction or achieve substantially the same result as the correspondingembodiments described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appendedclaims are intended to include within their scope such processes,machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

1. A method, comprising: obtaining, by a wireless communication device,a usage limit for a service provided by a wireless service provider;determining, by the wireless communication device, an amount of usage ofthe service by the wireless communication device; comparing, by thewireless communication device, the amount of usage with one or moreusage thresholds; and indicating, by the wireless communication device,that the amount of usage at least reaches a threshold of the one or moreusage thresholds, wherein the indicating comprises changing an ambientelement of the wireless communication device, wherein the ambientelement is a hardware element integrated with the wireless communicationdevice, and separate from a graphical user interface display of thewireless communication device, that outputs at least one of a visualindication or a tactile indication. 2-4. (canceled)
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the ambient element is a separate hardware implementedlight emitting band encircling the graphical user interface display ofthe wireless communication device, and changing the ambient elementcomprises changing colors of the light emitting band encircling thegraphical user interface display of the wireless communication device.6. The method of claim 5, wherein changing colors of the light emittingband comprises controlling the light emitting band to output a firstcolor light when the determined amount of usage is less than a firstthreshold of the usage limit and controlling the light emitting band tooutput a second color light, different from the first color light, whenthe determined amount of usage is greater than a second threshold of theusage limit.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ambient element is avibration module of the wireless communication device, and wherein thechanging the ambient element comprises activating the vibration module.8. An apparatus, comprising: a usage determiner to determine an amountof usage of a service of a wireless communication device; a thresholdcomparer to compare the amount of usage with one or more usagethresholds of a usage limit; and an element changer to change anoperation of an ambient element of the wireless communication device inresponse to the amount of usage at least reaching a usage threshold ofthe one or more usage thresholds, wherein the ambient element is ahardware element integrated with the wireless communication device, andseparate from a graphical user interface display of the wirelesscommunication device, that outputs at least one of a visual indicationor a tactile indication.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprisingat least one of an option selector to enable a user to select a colorscheme for changes of colors of the ambient element and a usage disablerto prevent the element changer from changing the ambient element on thescreen.
 10. (canceled)
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein at leastone of the usage determiner, the threshold comparer, and the elementchanger are in a computer of a base station subsystem, a mobileswitching center, or a public switched telephone network. 12-14.(canceled)
 15. A computer program product comprising: a computerreadable storage device of a wireless communication device includinginstructions that, when executed by a processor of the wirelesscommunication device, causes the processor to: receive a usage limit fora service provided by a wireless service provider; determine an amountof usage of the service by the wireless communication device; comparethe amount of usage with one or more usage thresholds; determine thatthe amount of usage at least reaches a threshold of the one or morethresholds; and indicate that the amount of usage at least reaches thethreshold by changing an ambient element of the wireless communicationdevice, wherein the ambient element is a hardware element integratedwith the wireless communication device, and separate from a graphicaluser interface display of the wireless communication device, thatoutputs at least one of a visual indication or a tactile indication.16-23. (canceled)
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the ambient elementis one or more light emitting diodes of a hardware case of the wirelesscommunication device, and wherein changing an ambient element of thewireless communication device comprises changing a color of lightemitted by the one or more light emitting diodes of the hardware case ofthe wireless communication device.
 25. The method of claim 1, whereinthe ambient element is a backlit keypad of the wireless communicationdevice, and wherein changing an ambient element of the wirelesscommunication device comprises changing a color of light emitted by thebacklit keypad of the wireless communication device.
 26. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the ambient element is one or more light emittingdiodes of a hardware case of the wireless communication device, andwherein changing the operation of the ambient element of the wirelesscommunication device comprises changing a color of light emitted by theone or more light emitting diodes of the hardware case of the wirelesscommunication device.
 27. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the ambientelement is a backlit keypad of the wireless communication device, andwherein changing the operation of the ambient element of the wirelesscommunication device comprises changing a color of light emitted by thebacklit keypad of the wireless communication device.
 28. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the ambient element is a separate hardwareimplemented light emitting band encircling the graphical user interfacedisplay of the wireless communication device, and changing the operationof the ambient element comprises changing colors of the light emittingband encircling the graphical user interface display of the wirelesscommunication device.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein changingcolors of the light emitting band comprises controlling the lightemitting band to output a first color light when the determined amountof usage is less than a first threshold of the usage limit andcontrolling the light emitting band to output a second color light,different from the first color light, when the determined amount ofusage is greater than a second threshold of the usage limit.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the ambient element is a vibration moduleof the wireless communication device, and wherein the changing theambient element comprises activating the vibration module.
 31. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the ambient element is oneor more light emitting diodes of a hardware case of the wirelesscommunication device, and wherein changing the operation of the ambientelement of the wireless communication device comprises changing a colorof light emitted by the one or more light emitting diodes of thehardware case of the wireless communication device.
 32. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein the ambient element is a backlitkeypad of the wireless communication device, and wherein changing theoperation of the ambient element of the wireless communication devicecomprises changing a color of light emitted by the backlit keypad of thewireless communication device.
 33. The computer program product of claim15, wherein the ambient element is a separate hardware implemented lightemitting band encircling the graphical user interface display of thewireless communication device, and changing the operation of the ambientelement comprises changing colors of the light emitting band encirclingthe graphical user interface display of the wireless communicationdevice.
 34. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein changingcolors of the light emitting band comprises controlling the lightemitting band to output a first color light when the determined amountof usage is less than a first threshold of the usage limit andcontrolling the light emitting band to output a second color light,different from the first color light, when the determined amount ofusage is greater than a second threshold of the usage limit.
 35. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the ambient element is avibration module of the wireless communication device, and wherein thechanging the ambient element comprises activating the vibration module.